#Book Reflections

[canceledromance]

another aspect of this discussion on taboo, or problematic, or whatever word you want to use for it, media that i've been thinking about a lot, is the way certain taboos become acceptable within certain narrative contexts, but not in others.

and i mean, i think this is understandable. it's why a novel like lolita is not the same as a novel like daddy's little toy (in so much as i can make that assumption given i can't actually read dlt for myself). lolita is making a point that is bigger than, like, the literal events that are being depicted in its pages. it's not a book of csa. it's a book about the harm and ruin that comes from people who enact csa on children. it has something meaningful to say beyond entertainment. meanwhile, the assumption (due to how it was marketed and the snippets available) with dlt is that the presence of child grooming is the statement. it's the entertainment. and that's pretty fucking foul.

but i also wonder where we put things like the television shows criminal minds and law & order: svu when it comes to subjects like the sexual assault of adults and children. is the supposed messaging of these shows (this is bad) stronger than the exploitive reality of selling these kinds of stories to viewers? i'm genuinely asking; i do not know. to me, the episodes of those shows that tell stories about sexual abuse still feel kind of icky in that they're still attempting to titillate. they're arousing in the general sense of the word, and they come with ad breaks. should we be socially okay with monetizing entertainment about sexual abuse if it comes packaged as social commentary? it's still fiction, and it's still meant to entertain.

i've seen some comments on tiktok vids about ttws that say, it's one thing to have this kind of dead dove shit on ao3, but a mainstream published book is so gross! and i've found myself taken aback by that distinction. partly because i would think any portrayal of that kind of thing would be seen as unacceptable and deserving of jail time regardless of platform, and partly because i think it's kind of laughable to presume that dlt, a self-published book in a niche genre, would have reached any kind of influential scale. regardless, the question stands in my mind: why would (to these commenters at least) ao3 be an acceptable platform for csa stories while other forms of publishing are not?

in asking these questions, i'm not leaning towards an answer of, well, just eradicate these narratives across all platforms, because good riddance to bad trash. i think having that answer oversimplifies the issue. but at the same time, it's hard to say with my full chest we should allow base, lurid, predatory fiction to run rampant wherever it so chooses.

next day eta: i want to adjust this to add that even my last statement ("it's hard to say with my full chest we should allow base, lurid, predatory fiction to run rampant wherever it chooses") is super hypocritical, given the kind of fic i've read and written myself.

i don't want to take that line out, because i said it, and the purpose of this blog to also deal with the areas in which i, myself, have biases or sticky spots, or contradicting beliefs. i have written a lot of base, lurid, predatory fiction. i've even written that kind of stuff between adults and older teens. and it upsets me that even i can get caught up in the moral panic of this discussion to the point i forget my own participation and start lambasting myself.

if i could adjust what i said last night and rewrite that line, this is how i would:

in asking these questions, i'm not leaning towards an answer of, well, just eradicate these narratives across all platforms, because good riddance to bad trash. i think having that answer oversimplifies the issue. but at the same time, it's hard to say with my full chest we should allow base, lurid, predatory fiction to run rampant wherever it so chooses. the crux for me is that there is always nuance and context, and i believe this even when it comes to the kind of morally controversial fiction that people write purely for smut. an all or nothing approach doesn't work here, in my opinion.

[virleanverse]

You can choose choices but not outcomes.

― Matt Haig, The Midnight Library

Reality hit when I read this line from the book. It is indeed true. No matter what options are given to us, no matter what decisions we choose to make, it's not within our power to choose or know the outcome. No one really knows what happens next. There are lots of variables, that even a minute flick of a finger could make ripples throughout the course of our lives. So, this made me realize...that even if I had the chance to go back in time and choose a different choice or decision, there's no guarantee what my circumstance would've become. I wouldn't have known if I'd be happier or more successful. It's all the same. We go through life blindly. We may know the concept of cause-and-effect, but in life? Nothing is set in stone and we can't foresee anything at all.

[jarredlharris]

The Fylgja: Reflections on chapter three of "Spinning Wyrd" by Ryan Smith

Happy Friday, dear readers! in today’s blog post, I hope to continue my reflections of chapter three of Spinning Wyrd by Ryan Smith. Specifically, I want to explore the third part of the Heathen self that Smith talks about, the fylgja. This is the aspect of the Heathen self that I’ve always struggled with and have my doubts about. To clarify, I have no problems believing that we have guiding…

[eggwhiteswithspinach]

His grandfather later shared his side of the story to share that he had refused to do so because she had only requested to be driven because the person to harass her was Black; she’d been harassed at the bus stop many times before and not felt bothered.

#books

[metaphysakilbuild]

ISLAMISM Sheik, again kudos for your stellar speaking performance at the MA men's day conference! This is a page from my journal thatI thought significant enough to share with you:

I've been outside grounding myself and reflecting/ connecting with the earth, and I'm ready to start a Moorish American dhikr/ prayer club.

There's no way that I've been able to attain the feats that I have in life specifically business, education, and finding a mate by myself, and so I would like to share this knowledge, skill, and ability with others in my Moorish American family. Put more clearly, I've been given some skills to tap directly into Allah and His Angels. I have been working on consolidating this into a framework digestible through a Moorish American Lenses, but trust and believe a might work is coming soon.

I will have a draft on a book by this time next year, more discretely chronicling my development and the skills I think may have been obtained in my journey. 📿 🇲🇦 🇺🇸

[ramyeonpng]

How does emotion, particularly anger and frustration, show up in your life, particularly in knee-jerk responding? What are ways you can learn to tolerate that distress so that you focus on the message rather than the emotion?

#books

[grouchydairy]

My way of coping with noticing change is to gather information, and then gather information, afraid that I don’t have enough information to truly make the "right" judgment. Yet, the more information I have, the more overwhelmed that I’m not truly seeing the nuances within the information, so guess what? I try to learn more.

#books

[brokenbutbecoming]

Three Books That Changed Me

List three books that have had an impact on you. Why? Three Books That Changed Me body { font-family: ‘Segoe UI’, sans-serif; line-height: 1.7; padding: 2rem; max-width: 900px; margin: auto; background: #fefefe; color: #333; } h1 { font-size: 2.5rem; color: #111; } h2 { color: #444; margin-top: 2rem; } blockquote { font-style: italic; color: #666; margin: 1rem 0; padding-left: 1rem;…

[roseandclove999]

Book Reflections: Down the Drain

As the second memoir I've finished for 2025. Reading about the life of artist Julia Fox follows in such a disturbing and inspiring trend. Women who are profoundly talented and become extremely famous have their image tarnished and twisted in the media. When you hear their story in their own words you can not help but be inspired and amazed. Patriarchy really is a nasty and out dated system. Anyway if I were at present an English lit professor, a high school English teacher, the mom of a teen girl, or someone in recovery, a psych ward, a rehab, or on matrescence time, I would be reading and recommending this book. Actually it would probably be triggering for people starting rehab, and some teen girls might miss some of the messages and think certain painful lessons were enticing rather than important. But I think it is definitely on a required reading list for the people interested and invested in their dark feminine awakenings. Julia Fox is a powerhouse creator and follows in a lineage of ungovernable women who have broken not only their own generational curses but continued in the necessary work for all of us and importantly all women to tell our own stories without shame and render our own experiences as our own powerful addition to the historical archive here on planet earth. Herstorical? I don't know. By offering these beautiful, flawed, messy and honest stories of personal becoming, women like Julia Fox do something completely transformative and alchemical and deserve to be honored as the leading artists, pop culture icons, and historians they are.

It is never easy being a public figure but publicly breaking up with people of great power as a public figure and a woman also means risking everything to be and retain or remain yourself. Not to reduce this book at all to any of her relationships but understanding that Julia Fox also did not sign an NDA in one of her extremely public relationships was also so incredibly beautiful and inspiring. A liberatory and inspired book, I hope more people read it. also, thank you, Julia Fox!

[outragedtortilla]

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve certainly fallen prey to emotional headlines. This emotional fence just pops up as you’re ready to attack, coming from a place of wanting to advocate for something different. Sometimes this is misplaced when that context isn’t first acknowledged and understood.

#books

[canceledromance]

i haven't posted much bc y'know ebbs and flows in interest and i was caught up in some folklore things for a class the last month BUT i do have a thought i want to put here.

i'm on tiktok, and i'm very much on booktok, and one of the things that gets perennially brought up there is this idea of what books people choose to keep visible on their shelves. so like, i'll get videos every few months about people having opinions about being able to see, particularly, sjm books on shelves, because to showcase the books is to approve of the author's actions.

and while i do understand the idea of like, not wanting to endorse certain authors, and not wanting to promote them in any way, i always get a little piqued because the comments usually trend towards just hiding books from problematic authors away, as if hiding the fact of their existence in your collection absolves you from having purchased, and/or read, and/or enjoyed them. and that's performative to me and makes me curious about whether performativity is good or bad here. i guess probably both?

because, again, i get not wanting to endorse or promote an author you read before you know they did something fucked. but also, if this is my bookshelf where i store all of my books and some of the books i need to store were written by pieces of shit, but hold a nostalgic or personal significance, AND were read before i knew the author fucking sucked, should i really be expected to hide them away to avoid being labeled an apologist online? is there not also an issue with clocking someone's battered collection of harry potter novels and assuming this means they make political decisions and hold personal beliefs that align with j.k. rowling?

i know when i was briefly making booktok content i tried to keep my acotar collection out of frame at a certain point because people were getting kind of jubilant in the space about blocking sjm enjoyers. and that just feels kind of shitty. if my books were purchased and read and beloved before i knew she was x-y-z thing, why should i perform as if i have nothing to do with them?

idk. i do get it! proudly showcasing shit authors seems sus. then again, how we know it's proudly showcasing and not just, like, where the books happened to fall because of how a person's shelves are organized. it it feels kinda stupid to have to completely rearrange my personal belongings to avoid getting cancelled online.

[cryptocism]

"just as I did, in 1983."

you'd never know my favourite parts of the show are the fucked up insane bits when my first instinct is to draw the cheesiest thing imaginable

[jarredlharris]

Hamingja: Reflections on chapter three of "Spinning Wyrd" by Ryan Smith

Happy Saturday, dear readers! In today’s post, I want to take a brief look at the fourth and final part of the Heathen self that Ryan Smith discusses in the third chapter of Spinning Wyrd. What jumped out at me is that Smith (or at least those whose views he’s sharing) seems to hold two slightly different views of the hamingja. On the one hand, hamingja sounds as if its an impersonal force, that…

[eggwhiteswithspinach]

In Lolo’s story and too in Obama’s story of his father, I saw narratives of BIPOC studying and engaging with American culture and wanting to push forward aspects of change they found valuable for their communities. In both stories I saw that happening without community support, and the ensuing learned helplessness and/or "survival takes all" narrative.

#books

[egophiliac]

So.... what are your thoughts on Ace's UM, if you haven't been asked this already?

sneaky magic for the sneakiest boy

no but really, I think it fits him really well! I had thought his UM would probably involve something kinda sleight-of-handy or pickpockety! and I looooved that it made such a nice loop-around back to episode 1. ❤️ I was. kind of half-expecting him to just run out and punch Riddle in the nose again. but instead this time 'twas he who offed the queen's head! it was great! and he did it while stone-cold terrified out of his mind! because Ace is the only remotely normal or well-adjusted person at NRC and therefore the only one who is like "we're going to literally die, this is super effed up". but he did it anyway!!!! I AM SO PROUD